Hour 13. Resolving Resource Allocation Problems

You undoubtedly know what it means to be assigned more work than you can possibly get done in the time allowed. You have several assignments that fall in the same time period, as though your boss assumed you could clone yourself—and would be more than willing to do so.

When you're overbooked like that, you can sometimes spread the workload out a little, getting some of it done ahead of time and finishing some of the tasks a little late, without causing any harm. However, if there are absolutely intractable deadlines, you have to get other people to take some of the assignments for you. Otherwise, you can't get the work done on time, or you have to cut corners and not do a good job.